Female veterans struggle in jobs market

By Meena Thiruvengadam, Special for USA TODAY

Christa Fazio left the Navy in 2006 with big dreams for her civilian life. But 20 months after being laid off from the last in a string of jobs, she wonders if she measures up to job seekers who didn't spend nearly a decade in the military.

By Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Christa Fazio, an electronics technician and communications specialist, has struggled to find stable work since she left the Navy in 2006.

Christa Fazio, an electronics technician and communications specialist, has struggled to find stable work since she left the Navy in 2006.

"Sadly, the answer to that question is no," the former electronic communications systems specialist says. "In some areas I'm overskilled, but in some areas, like professional certifications, I'm way behind the curve."

Fazio is among a generation of female veterans battling unemployment at nearly the same rate as their male counterparts. While many of her peers have spent the past decade gaining civilian work experience and professional certifications, Fazio and her military colleagues were on a different track, one that in many cases is putting them at a competitive disadvantage in a tough job market.

Their struggle comes as women outside of the military are emerging from the Great Recession hurt less by joblessness than men but as female veterans are increasingly battling homelessness and unemployment. "Women veterans are one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless veteran population," says John Driscoll, who heads the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Female veterans are twice as likely to become homeless as women who never served in the military, the government's latest data show.

The unemployment rate for female veterans of the long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rose to 13.5% in January, above the 8.4% that was the seasonally unadjusted average for non-veteran adult women. And while the overall unemployment rate declined last year, unemployment among female veterans of the latest wars was more than 3 percentage points higher in December 2010 than in December 2009.

"Women veterans' unemployment rates are typically higher. But for veterans of the current era, it's a highly competitive market, and that's making things worse," says Celia Szelwach, founder of the Women Veterans Network and a former member of a federal advisory committee on female veterans.

At the beginning of 2011, female veterans of the latest wars were more likely to be unemployed than not only women in general but also female veterans of the Gulf War or of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Maria Canales, a former Army financial management specialist, spent most of 2006 in Iraq, but after getting a bachelor's degree and returning to her native New York City, she has yet to find a full-time job. As a temp, she now coordinates recruitment for a financial sector tech firm. "I am trying to get people jobs, and I need a job myself," she says.

Allowing for the statistical margin of error, the gap in unemployment rates between women overall and the latest generation of female veterans may not be as wide as it appears. Still, one recent survey showed it takes a female veteran an average of eight months to find a civilian job. Even seven years after leaving the military, nearly half haven't adjusted to the civilian workforce, the survey by the non-profit Business and Professional Women's Foundation found.

"Many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans leave the active-duty military only to find that their skills are not understood by civilian employers. The challenges that women face are even greater," says Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Women, whose presence in the military has been climbing over the past decade, now account for 1.8 million — or about 8% — of the about 23 million U.S. veterans, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

No one can pinpoint exactly why the transition to the civilian workplace seems tougher for female veterans, but researchers and advocacy groups point toward a Veterans Affairs system that doesn't adequately meet women's health care, child care and psychological needs; a tendency among women to serve as a primary caregiver for children; and a civilian sector that may not fully understand the role of women in the military.

In some ways, female veterans face the same challenges as male veterans.

Canales, for example, wonders whether civilian employers respect the work experience she gained in the military. "I still feel insecure about whether a civilian employer is going to believe I can do it when on my résumé all it says is Army," she says.

Holly Mosack, who left the Army in 2004, says she struggled to figure out how to tell employers exactly what she did in the Army. Mosack worked in public affairs and in a sector of the Army providing personnel and administrative support to combat forces. "Even if I said I had an HR background, the civilian sector wouldn't agree," says Mosack, now a recruiter for Advanced Technology Services in Peoria, Ill.

"When people think of veterans, they still think of men," Fazio says. "But the girls have been out there, too."

The government offers several programs to assist transitioning veterans, but none is targeted specifically at female job seekers.

The government's signature Transition Assistance Program hasn't been revamped since its launch nearly two decades ago, a period during which women began joining the military in larger numbers. Over the course of several days, the program offers assistance with cover letters, résumés and interview skills.

"I thought when I went through the program that I would be able to step in to the civilian world," Fazio says. "But how do you prepare for the rest of your life in a few days?"

The Transition Assistance Program is set for a makeover that will allow it to better help veterans "obtain meaningful careers and be peak performers in those careers," says Ray Jefferson, the Labor Department's assistant secretary for veterans' employment and training.

But those changes will take time to materialize, and even when they do, they may not be enough.

"In the military you get taken care of in so many ways that you forget how to do things for yourself," Fazio says. "What I needed most was someone to help me learn to live a normal life again."

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